"Uncle Ben, it's been a while. How is Father?"
"Huh?" Noel widened his eyes in surprise. The rest of the people also stared at him in disbelief.
They doubted him until the angry guy bowed his head and shouted, "Welcome back, young master."
"…" Noel never thought that the two guys he met by chance was actually a bigshot. A Master Blacksmith was a prestigious title because there were only less than twenty people who had this title.
So, their title was similar to that of a noble since even nobles didn't dare to offend them easily. After all, the other party could simply flee from this place and move to another place, supplying them weapons and equipment to take revenge against the noble.
And the children of the Master Blacksmith was treated like that of the children in the noble family, except for the fact that they weren't an official noble appointed by the kingdom.
"This is…" Noel sucked a cold breath, staring in disbelief.
"Are you surprised?" Rica smirked, amused by Noel's reaction.
"Y-yeah. Who won't be?" Noel shook his head helplessly.
"Anyway, let's come in. You want to see my father, right?" Rica waved her hand as Rick seemed to have conveyed his words to the guy.
The angry guy then led them in, stunning everyone else.
"What's that?"
"How does that guy know the Master Blacksmith's children?"
"We need to know that information so that we can get this kind of treatment!"
There was an uproar outside as they were staring at Noel intensely, trying to pry all sorts of information from the guy but to no avail.
Meanwhile, the inside of the smithy was more magical than Noel thought.
He thought that the blacksmith would just be heating the metal and hammering it, but when he entered the smithy, he could see a guy who was releasing fire from its palm to melt the metal. There was even a guy who was using a big hammer with his Spiritual Energy to boost his power.
"This is…" Noel sucked a hot breath and couldn't help but cough a few times because he wasn't used to this kind of environment.
"What's wrong?" Rica asked.
"It's just surprising that these people here are using Spiritual Energy…" Noel narrowed his eyes. "Some even have awakened their Spirits."
"The blacksmiths are divided into three classes. Normal Blacksmith, Veteran Blacksmith, and Master Blacksmith. Normal Blacksmith is someone who has just finished their apprenticeship while Veteran Blacksmith is the one who has worked for at least a decade.
"But there is a hidden requirement for a Veteran Blacksmith… They need to be able to use Spiritual Energy because the metal is harder than you think and there are some special equipment that can be made too.
"If you manage to awaken your Spirits, you have the chance to create a Spirit Weapon, which basically can do something special when infusing your Spiritual Energy. As for Master Blacksmith, I don't think I need to explain it. They're beyond Veteran Blacksmith and can create something better than Spirit Equipment." Rica explained.
"I see." Noel nodded with a serious expression, understanding the gist of the job.
"And who do you bring this time, Rica?!" A deep voice suddenly startled them. The voice contained anger and annoyance.
"!!!" Rica's body trembled as she turned around stiffly. "F-Father."
Noel immediately turned around and saw a muscular man walking toward him. The man had a tall body and bald head, but his thick beard increased the intensity of his gaze. He was far different than Rick and Rica to the point he thought they were not blood related.
"He has helped us from the bandits, so we bring him to you to thank him." Rica hurriedly explained. This was the first time Rica stuttered as if she was scared of this man.
"And do you think I haven't seen people paying the bandits to fake a raid?" He snorted. There were already numerous times that their family were in danger because of people faking this attack just to take advantage of them, so he had some prejudice for people like Noel.
However, Rick raised his hand to stop his father. "It's different this time, Father."
Still, even though he didn't like people like Noel, he was open for discussion. It was proven that he still listened to Rick.
He asked, "What's the difference?"
"The bandits captured and used the demons to raid us," explained Rick with a grim expression.
"Huh?" The Master Blacksmith widened his eyes. "You aren't lying to me right now?"
"Do you think I'll be joking this time?" Rick shook his head.
The Master Blacksmith closed his eyes for a moment before walking to Noel. "Your name?"
"Iadre." Noel hurriedly answered and took out the letter. "Actually, I have a recommendation letter."
"Do you know that a Master Blacksmith is a kind of noble?" He asked but still accepted Noel's letter before glancing at the seal. "Hmm?"
The moment he noticed this seal, he fell silent and opened the letter.
With just a single glance, Rick and Rica also noticed that blue seal that symbolized a certain army. "Demon Banner Army?!"
Rica looked at Noel dumbfoundedly, "You are from the Demon Banner Army? No wonder you're so strong, especially against the demons."
Before Noel could answer, the Master Blacksmith asked, "The materials?"
Noel took off his bag and showed the glimpse of the material inside the bag.
The Master Blacksmith only took a glance of the item before asking again, "Your name?"
"Iadre."
"I know that already. I mean your real name." The Master Blacksmith narrowed his eyes.
"Real name?" Rick and Rica widened their eyes. Although they had expected this because Noel was using a masquerade, it was still surprising to hear his real name.
Unfortunately for them, Noel said playfully, "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand what you're talking about."
The Master Blacksmith read the letter again before summoning a fire to burn the letter so that no one could read it. After that, he pointed at the door behind him. "Follow me."
